The following are excerpts from U.S. Ambassador Thomas Foley's interview with The Japan Times: What do you think the U.S. and Japanese governments should do to prevent overall bilateral relations from being damaged by the Feb. 9 accident in which a Japanese ship sank off Hawaii when it was hit by a surfacing U.S. submarine?
The U.S.-Japan relationship will of course survive this most recent tragic accident. We have been deeply apologetic and expressed regrets to the government and people of Japan. It's very difficult to understand how it could have happened, because there are elaborate procedures to prevent such an accident from occurring. The matters are of course under active investigation ordered by President (George W.) Bush, and the information on conclusions will be made available to the Japanese government. We are determined to find out whatever the cause was, not only to make sure that it never happens again, but also to have a better understanding of what did in fact occur.
What is your assessment of Japan-U.S. relations during your tenure as ambassador here?